The Deutschlandticket is undoubtedly a success. Travelling throughout Germany for 49 euros a month was and is a revolution for public transport. According to the German government, eleven million people use the ticket, many of them via smartphone.
However, there was a dispute about the price and cost distribution from the outset. The federal government pays 1.5 billion euros a year, the federal states the other half. The transport ministers of the federal states, who are responsible for the transport networks, have now decided to increase the price in 2025.
It is still unclear how much more expensive the ticket will be. The transport ministers want to meet again in the autumn in order to maintain the attractiveness of the ticket. It is not yet possible to say whether it will be 54 or 59 euros. In addition to financing, general price trends, inflation and public transport costs also play a role.
Criticism from transport association and Pro Bahn
At a special meeting on 8 July 2024, the transport ministers discussed a current draft bill from the federal government on regionalisation funds. This law also regulates the future funding of the Deutschland Ticket and large parts of public transport funding. The VDV industry association has criticised the procedure, as it would have a direct impact on regionalisation funds in addition to funding.
“The federal government has taken eight months to present a draft bill that is not intended to clarify the key questions regarding the final financing of the Deutschland Ticket until the end of 2026. In addition, the federal government apparently wants to gradually withdraw from co-financing half of the ticket and transfer more financial responsibility to the federal states. Yet it was this federal government that ordered the Deutschland Ticket from us together with the federal states. Whoever orders must also pay! And for as long as the offer exists,” says VDV President Ingo Wortmann.
The passenger association PRO BAHN has also criticised the move: “The constant threat of price increases every few weeks is damaging the acceptance of the Deutschlandticket, as passengers cannot rely on the continued existence and price stability of the ticket,” criticises Detlef Neuß, Federal Chairman of the passenger association PRO BAHN. Instead of constantly discussing the issue, the PRO BAHN passenger association is calling on the federal states to ensure price stability for at least three years so as not to immediately scare away the passengers who have been won over by the ticket.
“For years, the federal states have generously misappropriated the regionalisation funds provided by the federal government for ordering local rail passenger transport,” criticises Professor Lukas Iffländer, Deputy Federal Chairman of the PRO BAHN passenger association. For example, hundreds of millions of euros are being wasted every year on the second main line in Munich or on bus transport in Lower Saxony, although this should actually be paid for from the state’s own funds. In addition, numerous special tickets such as discounted Deutschlandtickets for students are sold as a state benefit but financed from federal funds. “It would be better to use this money to order more trains to relieve the burden on passengers. After years of living at federal expense, it is now time for the federal states to contribute more to the financing of local transport and thus also increase their share of the Deutschlandticket,” demands Iffländer.
The starting point for criticism from the industry is the procedure proposed in the draft bill for the disbursement of regionalisation funds for 2025 in the amount of 350 million euros. The draft bill stipulates that these funds should only be paid out to the federal states once the proof of use for the regionalisation funds for 2025 has been submitted in full and on time. “The deadline for this is 30 September 2026, so despite the extremely tight financial situation in the industry, we are still supposed to wait almost two years until the regionalisation funds, which the federal government has long since promised, are paid out in full. This is an absurdity and is neither economically nor commercially justifiable. Even now, the funds available are barely sufficient to finance the existing services, partly because of the Deutschland Ticket. It is completely incomprehensible that a further 350 million euros are being withheld from the public transport system in such a situation,” said Wortmann.
The industry is also extremely sceptical about the fact that the draft bill no longer states that the federal and state governments will share the financing of the ticket equally, but that the states should contribute at least the same amount to the financing of the D-Ticket. “The federal government is thus shifting the funding responsibility to the federal states and de facto cancelling the original agreement between the federal and state governments, which provided for a 50:50 split of the necessary compensation for the loss of revenue for the transport companies. One gets the impression that the federal government is no longer fully behind the Deutschland-Ticket or has underestimated the financing dimensions. Proposals such as those in the current draft bill certainly do not provide security and predictability for customers and transport companies,” concludes Wortmann.
12.07.2024
